


Hardly Fitting

by osunism



Series: Ice Shielded By Flame [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F, Femslash, First Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-16
Updated: 2016-10-16
Packaged: 2018-08-22 20:29:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8299910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/osunism/pseuds/osunism
Summary: "What am I to you?"





	

Hadiza doesn’t know what she expected of a former slave. The scars, yes, from the cruel bite of a whip or somewhat worse, but Calpernia’s hands are soft, delicate, and deft. Hadiza finds herself watching the other woman work, mending broken staves, testing the sharpness of her partisan with which she is never seen without, and the way her slender fingers curl around the neck of a bottle of lyrium.

She expects roughness, skin thick with calluses from menial labor, but she remembers that the Imperium values magic, considers mages to be superior, and even in her bondage, Calpernia was trained in the arcane.

In the storeroom, Hadiza reads over the labels of various vials and pouches. The small underground refuge is in dire need of medicinal expertise, and so it is in that capacity that Hadiza lends her aid. Her fingertips brush over the dried ears of hanging elfroot, and the room is fragrant with it. Those slaves freed that have no magical capacity, or are too sick and wounded to aid in the rebellion, require her care.

“Inquisitor.” Calpernia’s voice is quiet, but there is the feel of teeth in it, an authority that surprises Hadiza, makes her rolls her shoulders against the sudden presence in the room.

“That is not my name, Calpernia,” Hadiza murmurs, sparing a cursory glance over her shoulder, “not anymore.” Calpernia steps further into the room, watches Hadiza gather the herbs she needs, already counting the inventory in her head of what to send her scouts to retrieve during the next supply run.

“No, but here that commands far more power and respect than your mere name could.” Calpernia retorts and Hadiza turns.

“The Trevelyan name carries some weight in the Imperium, Calpernia.” She snaps, “And I’d vastly prefer to not be swallowed by that title if I don’t have to be.”

Calpernia lifts her chin, fighting the urge to cast her eyes downward, to perform a kneel of contrition. Never again will she kneel for anyone.

Even her.

“You married him,” Calpernia is careful not to say his name, as if the mere mention will summon the specter of the man that lies between them, “and did your father not renounce you?”

Hadiza frowns, little lines of tension forming around her eyes and mouth. For some reason, what should feel like a victory to Calpernia does not.

“I thought we were past formalities at this point,” Hadiza says quietly, “perhaps…even friends.”

Calpernia lets out a bark of laughter in hopes of drowning out the wild thunder of her heart. Friends? Ha! Would that it were as simple as all that. Hadiza has become integral to the health and fitness of those who cannot be in the front. Calpernia would call her more than a friend, had she the words.

“You have been by my side for almost a year, Inqui–” Calpernia catches her mistake, pokes her tongue along the gap between her teeth out of habit, “Hadiza. You are…”

Hadiza steps closer, silver eyes hard.

“What am I, Calpernia?” She demands. “The Inquisition is no more. My title is but a hollow honorific. What am I? What am I to you?”

Calpernia doesn’t want to speak, not with the scent of dried herbs and Hadiza’s own cloying scent around her. So she takes Hadiza face in her hands and kisses her instead. She feels surprise thrum through the other woman, a feedback of ripples in conjunction with a gasp. Hadiza’s lips part immediately, yielding.

Calpernia is surprised too. No one has ever yielded to her like this before. Is this power? To have someone drown beneath your touch even as you breathe them in?

The kiss deepens, and Hadiza’s arms come around, the cold metal of her false arm and the hum of lyrium within it, heavy against Calpernia’s back.

“Lady Calpernia, we’ve reports from the skirmish in–oh.” A wayward guard stops short, and Calpernia pulls away slowly, leaving Hadiza alarmed and dazed. It takes a moment for her to untangle her arms from around the other woman as she whirls on her subordinate.

“There is a time and place for that, Eber,” She says contemptuously, “and the storage room is hardly fitting.”

Hadiza hides a small laugh behind her hand, tasting the salty tang of Calpernia on her mouth. Eber swallows hard, and decides it’s best not to cross two mages, and rushes away. Calpernia turns to Hadiza.

“Does that answer your question, Hadiza?” She asks, and this time the victory feels genuine. Hadiza nods, watching the other woman leave, her smile spreading like fresh blood. She shuts her eyes, and lets herself laugh.


End file.
